Dispensing razor handle



Patented Mar. 24, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE 2,632,446 DISPENSINGRAZOR emote Sam Rosenzweig, New York, N. Y. Application April 26, 1949-,Serial No. 39,553

2 Claims.

This invention relatesto a safety razor handle, particularly toa handlehaving liquid styptic dispensing means therein. I i

It frequently happens during shavingwith a safety razor that the userwill advertently slide the razor sideways or otherwise manipulate it ina manner and to such an extent that the skin is cut slightly. Smallprojections on the skin are also often cut slightly when shaving with asafety razor even under optimum conditions of use.- Suchcuts arecharacterizedby profuse and prolonged bleeding unless treated promptlywith astyptic, such as alum. lior this reason it is common practice formen who shave regularly to keep a supply of a" styptic or astringent,generally a stick or pencil of alum, at hand which can be applied to arazorcut to stop bleeding. This necessitates an additional ar'ticle tobe included among the already numerous articles necessary for shavingand is thus undesirable.- Furthermore, such alum sticks are seldom keptin a containe'r and thus tend to contaminate and corrode other articleswith which they come in contact. This is particularly disadvantageousfor travelers as is readily apparent. I V

A further and principal objection to the use of a solid styptic orastringent agent for treating cuts or wounds in the skin is due to thefact it must be: rubbed into the wound so that suflici'ent of the agentcan dissolve in the fluids in the wound to exert thedesired effect. Thisis often painful, especially after the piece of styptic has been usedand its surface has become roughened. Furthermore, the repeated use of astyptic pencil is liable to lead to the introduction into the wound ofoertain' types of infectious organisms which are not devitaliz'ed by theparticular styptic substance used.

It has been suggested to incorporate a container for a styptio pencil inthe handle of a razor so that the styptic would at all times be at handwhen needed and would not become misplaced and so thatits storagebetween uses would be facilitated and certain of the above-mentioneddisadvantages overcome. However, none of the handles suggested have beenadapted to the use of a liquid'styptic, astringent or antiseptic and theprincipal objection to the use of solid astringents hastherefore-notbeen overcome by such devices. Even inthe case of handles adapted tocontain styptic pencils, thepencil must be removed from the handlebefore using and its use is, therefore, unhandy and devoid of desirableautomatic features.

Itis, therefore, an object of the resent in-' 2 vention to provideshandle for a razor adapted to contain a liquid sty'pti'c, astringent oranti septic. q p r An additional object is to provide a razor handleadapted to dispense a liquid astringent automatically and at acontrolled rate.

An additional object is to provide a razor handle for containing and forapplying a liquid astring'ent to an open wound with a minimum ofirritation of the wound.

These and related objectsare accomplished readily and economically byproviding in the handle of a razor, preferably a razor of the safetytype having a shaving head in which a new blade .ean be inserted whenthe old one has become drilled, a receptacle for containing a fluidstyptic, antiseptic or astringent, herein referred to generically as anantiseptic, and means associated therewith to dispense the fluidantiseptic on the skin surface, or in a wound or abrasion therein, bymerely contacting the dispensing means lightly with the area which it isdesired to treat with the antiseptic. To prevent the application ofundue amounts of the antiseptic, e; g. by macv'ercemand undesiredflooding of the antiseptic onto the treated area, means are provide toregulate the rate of flow of the fluid antiseptic during the applicationthereof and, to prev nt loss'of fluid by accidental spillage orevaporation, means are usuauy provided for sealing the device againstsuch loss between uses, such means preferably operating automatically insuch fashion that the device is normally sealed except when fluid isactually being dispensed therefrom.

Figure 1 is an elevation, principally in section, of a razor having ahandle embodying one modifioation of the invention.

Figure 2 is an elevationpartly in section, of a dispensing razorhandleembod ying an alternative modification of the invention.

Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown a razor having a conventionalshaving head comprising blade-clamping members [0' and H, a blade 12,and positioning studs 13 secured, e. g. bya threadedstud 31 inconventional fashion, at one end of the main body member I4 of a handlecomprisingone modification of the invention.

The handle body member 14 is formed to comprise areceptacle, chamber orcavity I5 for holding a fluid antiseptic. The handle body member I4 isusually cylindrical but may be square, Bct'angular' or ofany otherconvenient or desirable cross-sectional shape and the fluid chamber isgenerally elongated to enabiea suitable su ply of liquid to be containedtherein.

The chamber i5 is closed at its outer end, i. e. at its end farthestremoved from the shaving head, with a dispenser body member l5,conveniently a somewhat elongated annular body threaded externally onits inner end and adapted to be screwed into threads ll formedinternally at the outer end of the hollow section of the handle bodymember M. A dispenser body bore 18, preferably cylindrical incross-section, extends longitudinally through the dispenser body member16 and is constricted somewhat and formed at its outer end to provide anannular seat i9 facing inwardly of the bore and adapted to receive asmooth surfaced ball 20 having a diameter somewhat less than thediameter of the bore l8 to form a liquid-tight seal. The annular seat I9is preferably of a suitable diameter to permit the ball 20 to projectsubstantially beyond the farthest outward extension of the dispenserbody member I6 and the outer end 2! of the dispenser body member ispreferably rounded and otherwise formed and polished so as to presentwith the exposed surface of the ball 29 a smooth, sub stantiallycontinuous surface which causes a minimum of irritation when rubbedgently over an abrasion or open wound.

A tubular piston 22 open at its inner end is positioned in thelongitudinal bore [8 of the dispenser body it and is of such a diameterthat it slides easily in the bore. The outer end of the piston 22 isclosed with a piston head 23, which is conveniently flat and whichcontains one or more piston head ports 25 to permit free flow of fluidthrough the piston head 23. At least one of the piston head ports 24 islocated offcenter so that it is not closed when the piston head 23 andthe ball 29 are in firm contact. A spring 25, conveniently a coiledspring under compression, is positioned inside the tubular piston 22 andbears at its outer end on the inside of the piston head 23. The innerend of the dispenser body bore 18 is closed with a spring-retainingmember 25, against which the inner end of the spring 25 bears and whichis secured in the bore IS in any convenient fashion and provided withone or more spring-retaining member ports 21 permitting free fiow offluid between the fluid chamber l5 and the dispenser body bore 18.

The spring-retaining member 26 can conveniently be a close fitting plugwhich is pressed into position or it can be a threaded member which canbe secured by means of threads formed in the surface of the bore [8. Thespring-retaining member 26 is preferably adapted, e. g. formed with aflange 28 at its inner end somewhat greater in diameter than thediameter of the dispenser body bore l8, to extend only to apredetermined distance into the bore l8.

Under normal conditions of storage and use of the razor, the tension ofthe spring 25 keeps the piston head 23 tightly pressed against the ball20 thus pressing the latter firmly against the annular seat !9 to sealthe device and prevent passage of liquid or vapor between the ball andthe seat. When, however, the ball is rubbed or rolled alon the skin, asin treating a small cut, the spring 25 is depressed slightly by thepressure of the skin on the ball and the ball is displaced from its seatsufiiciently to allow a thin film of liquid to adhere to the ball and tobe deposited on the skin as it rolls along the surface of the skin.

To limit the rate of flow of the liquid to a desired predetermined valueand to avoid its flooding onto the skin, it is preferable that the wallof the piston 22 be of such a length that it 4 abuts against the springretaining member 26 when the tubular piston 22 has moved inwardly for apredetermined distance in the bore [8 and the ball has been unseated tothe desired extent. A travel of a few thousandths of an inch for thepiston will generally be sufficient.

Liquid styptic or other agent can be loaded into the chamber 15 bydisconnecting the dispenser body member 16 from the handle body memberM, as at IT, and filling the chamber 15 as desired. To prevent leakage,a thin gasket 29 can be employed in conventional fashion between thedispenser body 16 and the handle body member M. A cap 30 of conventionaldesign can be removably secured, e. g. by friction, over the outer endof the dispenser body 16, if desired, to protect the ball 20 and thepolished surface 2| when not in use.

In an alternative arrangement of the parts as shown in Figure 2, thedispenser body member [6 is connected with, e. g. by being pressed orthreaded into the outer end thereof, a receptacle member 32 having a,receptacle 36 therein which is separate from the handle body member l4and which is secured therein in any convenient way. e. g. by threads 33.The inner end of the receptacle member 32 can be closed in convenientfashion as by a threaded or friction plug 34. A fine capillary openingor port 35 can be drilled in the plug 34, if desired, to assist inequalizing pressure between the receptacle 36 and the cavity iii in thehandle body member I4. Equalization of the pressure in the receptacle 35with the atmospheric pressure is generally effected when the ball 20 isunseated for the application of the antiseptic.

Although the preferred applicator means comprises a ball arrangedsubstantially as in Figure 1, other applicator means can be used, ifdesired, provided limiting the rate of flow of the antiseptic during useof the device to prevent flooding is effected. An alternate arrangementcan comprise a wick suitably constricted to limit the rate of flow ofthe antiseptic to a desired value or other means equivalent thereto.

I claim:

1. A razor handle comprising in combination a handle body member havinga receptacle closed at its inner end for containing a fluid, a dispenserbody member secured to the outer end of the handle body member andclosing the outer end of the receptacle, a longitudinal dispenser bodybore through the dispenser body member communicating with the receptacleat its inner end and constricted at its outer end to form an annularball seat, a tubular piston in the bore adapted to slide easily thereinand closed at its outer end with a head having a port for the flow ofliquid therethrough, a ball retained between the piston head and theannular ball seat and adapted to form a liquid-tight seal when seated onthe latter, spring-retaining means secured to the inner end of thedispenser body bore having a port for the flow of fluid therethrough,and spring means under compressive stress positioned inside the tubularpiston and bearing on the spring-retaining means and on the piston headfor maintaining the piston head and ball normally in firm contact withone another and the ball firmly seated, the ball projecting through theannular ball seat and being movable inwardly of the bore against thepressure of the said spring means in response to external pressure toallow passage of fluid between the ball and the seat.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein the spring-retainingmeans is positioned so as to lirriitthe inward travel of the piston andof the ball in response to external pressure on the ball and ,iireventflooding between the ball and seat of a fluid contained in the fluidreceptacle.

? SAM ROSENZWEIG.

Name Date Carpenter June 23, 1903 Number Number Name Date Burt et a1Oct. 13, 1903 Von Wedelstadt June 7, 1904 Coleman Nov. 25, 1924 TiptonApr. 9, 1929 Testa Oct. 16, 1934 Hughes Dec. 28, 1937 Nissen, Jr Mar. 5,1940 Kirmes Aug. 7, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Jan. 3,1949

